aungsan1986

Behind the?

2013-03-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

In 2008 notoriously anti-government BBC Burmese Program offered Aung Naing (a) Ronald Aung Naing a permanent position in their London Studio. Once the news spread among the Burmese exiles Nan Aung Htwe Kyi one of his tortured victims now living in Australia wrote protest letters to Tin Htar Swe the head of the BBC Burmese Program. Other ABSDF members also wrote protest letters.

But Tin Htar Swe just simply ignored them. Finally the protesters stepped up the campaign by taking their protest direct to the Director of BBC News. The pressure mounted and our Ronald Aung Naing had to quit his job at BBC Burmese.

The former ABSDF (Northern) General Secretary during that time is now a policy board member of the Network for Development and Democracy (NDD). And this was his confession of the crimes he committed from the book “All Wars Are dirty” written by Phil Thornton.

"At this time I was elected general secretary. I was in charge of our underground network. We used it to recruit students inside Burma. We began to notice we were able to go back and forth through enemy lines without problems, but we found we had recruited students who had family connections with Military Intelligence. Our numbers quickly grew to more than 800. We suspected our network had been infiltrated by MI. Reports from the front line indicated we were losing battles in suspicious circumstances. Our soldiers noticed knife marks had been cut in trees that could have led Burmese soldiers to our positions.

We started to watch some people. We arrested four or five and, after interrogation, we had a small list. The list included members of our central committee. We found out the National Intelligence Bureau had trained some of these as spies, and others were just used as informers. I think some were motivated by ultra-nationalistic visions of a Burman master race.

It was very difficult for us to know what to do. I panicked. We knew nothing about human rights, or, more to the point, we didn't understand. We asked the KIO to help us to interrogate. By now we had a list of eighty spies. We made videotapes in case no one believed us. We chained the spies and locked them in the barracks.

A Northern ABSDF central committee decided fifteen spies would be given the death penalty. We were at war, in armed struggle with the Burmese regime. Our constitution and law said we could give spies the death penalty. Many of our comrades had been killed because of these spies. Some members called for the death penalty for the entire eighty. We debated, argued, and finally agreed to fifteen. The sentences were determined by what the spies had done and how important they were to the [Burmese] military.

Some of them were shot and some were beheaded. They were shot at close range by pistol by our officers. We thought the guns caused more suffering, so we thought if we switched to machetes it would be less. But they were not cleanly beheaded, even though the spinal cords were severed. I watched . . . it was done in front of all ABSDF soldiers.”

According to Naing Lin an escapee out of over 100 arrested Dr. Nain Aung came to Pajau Camp on February 10 and personally interrogated all the arrested one by one. And two days later on 12 February 1992 the 15 students including the Chairman Htun Aung Kyaw he and other had chosen as the ringleaders of the so-called MIS spies were executed by beheading.

Dr. Naing Aung is now the Executive Director of the Network for Development and Democracy (NDD) and still actively involving in anti-government activities on the Thai border.

Aung Naing (General-secretary ABSDF North)

The former ABSDF Chairman during that time has been persistently accused by many ABSDF members as the main figure ordering the killings and later protecting the executioners.

He was offered a scholarship to study at the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2002, but Harvard quietly deferred his scholarship indefinitely after the University learned of his alleged role in the executions from the protest letters sent by the professed victims of many ABSDF crimes.

Naing Aung in turn has accused his predecessor Moe Thee Zun (now residing in the US) as the ABSDF Chairman who ordered the killings of students from Rangoon and Mandalay. But he also implicated himself in his ABSDF statement dated 31 May 1992 and released to the international Media as follows.

“I have no more disputes about the righteousness to execute 15 spies (Htun Aung Kyaw and 14 students executed in February 1992). However, I myself, on behalf of the ABSDF Central Committee, have the responsibilities for that even though there was no participation by the Central Committee on the decision process.”

She was the only girl murdered among the hundred accused and tortured as Government spies but she received most brutal torture and gang rape and sadistic abuse before her beheading. She was also forced to commit a disgusting blowjob on the dead body of Soe Naing her accused lover and one of the accused spies.

Completely naked she was buried alive in the ground except her head. A large knife was inserted into her mouth and swirled around to cut the most of her lips and tongue. Her body was pulled out of the ground and dragged along naked on the hard ground of the camp.

They then poked deep inside her vagina with their bamboo truncheons as they searched for the supposedly hidden bottle of poison to be used for assassinating the KIA and ABSDF top leaders. According to surviving witness Htin Lin Aung a fellow victim, Khin Cho Oo was screaming and screaming with unbearable pain as she couldn’t take it anymore in silence and he cried.

After she was gang raped by thirty odd members of Myo Win’s faction of students including Myo Win and Than Gyaung and Aung Naing she was dragged to the head-chopping block outside on the camp ground. As she cried and begged them not to behead her Than Gyanung shot her multiple times with his pistol till death.

Poor young Burmese girl who loved her country dearly was completely naked with the bamboo stick still protruding from her woman-organ when she was finally killed by the animals of ABSDF Student Army. She was a Burmese-major student from RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University) and her home was in Insein Township of Rangoon.

Thar Du (Rangoon) Head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Aung Thaung (Katha) Head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Aye Myint (Katha) Head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Thaung Myint (Sagaing) Head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Thet Naing (Rangoon) Head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Pyi Soe Naing (Rangoon)

After his arrest during the night he was buried alive standing with only his head exposed to the extremely cold weather of Laiseng on the Chinese border. The brutal bashing of his head by Myo Win’s gang caused massive inner bleeding and he died next morning.

His body was then dug up and his accused girlfriend Khin Cho Oo was forced to perform oral sex on his genitals.

Soe Win Than (Mandalay)

Despite being sick at the KIA field hospital nearby he was pulled out of his hospital and beheaded.

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The Victims (Tortured and Died)

Following is the long list of dead tortured victims from the ABSDF Northern Army in 1992. I have to warn the readers that the details of how they were tortured by their own comrades are violently graphic.

Myo Zaw Aung (Mandalay)

He was accused of having a hidden wireless set and so they tortured him brutally during the interrogation sessions. He was hanged upside down from a ceiling beam and a long piece of electric wire was inserted deep into his rectum and electric current was applied. He later died as his insides were rotten and damaged from the electric burns.

Kyaw Htay (Bamaw)

During his interrogation his eyes were pricked multiple times and finally pried out of the sockets. He died of his eye wounds.

Khin Maung Soe (Indaw) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Zaw Win Chit (Bamaw) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Win Thein (Wuntho) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Kyaw Kyaw Oo (Katha) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Yar Kut (Yingiang) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

U Sein (Rangoon) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Tin Maung Aye (Katha) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Aung Min (Mandalay) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Soe Min Aung (Mandalay) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Aye Kyaw (Mandalay) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Tint Lwin (Myitkyinar) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Win Naung (Rangoon) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

Aung Koe (Bamaw) Died in the interrogation-cum-torture session.

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The Villains (Rapists, Torturers, and Murderers)

Following is the list of the ABSDF men directly responsible for the unspeakable atrocities of torture and rapes and murders of their own innocent comrades after falsely accusing them of being Government spies.

Dr. Naing Aung (Chairman ABSDF Central)

The brutal tortures he endured before his head was finally chopped off included multiple brandings with a red hot flat iron bar on his inner thighs, droppings of molten tar onto his naked belly, sodomizing with red hot pokers, being forced to drink the blood still dripping from a chopped head of a comrade, and being forced to bite in and held in his mouth a chopped hand of a comrade.

Prolonged torture was so severe eventually he couldn’t walk no more. He was forced to lay his head on the block and Myo Win tried to chop the head off. But the head didn’t come off completely and his body involuntarily stood up. Myo Win then finished him off by bashing his head in with back of a shovel.

He was only 23 or 24 and a student from Mandalay GTI (Government Technical Institute) and also the elected Chairman of ABSU (All Burma Student Union) Upper Burma.

Cho Gyi (Mandalay)

His palms nailed to the bar Cho Gyi was crucified on a cross. During interrogation tar plates were burnt on his belly. They then chopped one of his hands off from the wrist. He was finally beheaded.

Kyaw Wai (Mandalay)

Tied with a C4 explosive to both hands Kyaw Wai was forced to run around the camp’s makeshift soccer field. One mine exploded and took part of his right arm off. Untreated they put him back to the cell with mutilated arm.

Just before he was killed he begged for mercy. But once he knew they were going to chop his head off he yelled out that he was a true Buddhist and they could kill his body only not his spirit and soul. Myo Win then chopped his head off.

Aung Phoe (Rangoon)

Than Gyaung, Myo Win, and Ronal Aung Naing were all involved in torturing him. They tied a C4 mine to his foot and blew the leg off. His hands were spared from chopping off though. Next day his head was chopped off by Ronald Aung Naing.

Kyaw Kyaw Min (Monywa)

He was one of the few who lost the nerves once the Camp Committee read them the execution order signed by Ronald Aung Naing. Soiled with urine and shit he was bodily carried to the block and his head chopped off by Hla Saing.

Maung Maung Kywe (Rangoon)

Grandson of famous U Kyaw Nyein and son of Daw Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein was always critical of Myo Win from the beginning and he paid with his head for that. Myo Win and Aung Naing tortured him most and finally Myo Win himself chopped his head off.

Tu Tu (Myitkyinar)

Tu Tu was a Kachin Christian and he was asked to say his last prayers before his execution but he refused and took the beheading calmly.

Hla Myint (Tatkone)

Till the last minute of his life he strongly protested he was not a Government spy as accused. His head was chopped off by Ronald Aung Naing.

Yan Aung (Rangoon)

As he was being beheaded he tried to stand up so that Myo Win and Than Gyaung ended up bayoneting him to death.

Htay Myint Win (Rangoon)

He was most critical of his boss Myo Win before and at last minute Myo Win was heard yelling at him angrily that if he still wants to criticize him. But Myo Win also shot him dead as Htay Myint Win didn’t want to die headless.

Khin Cho Oo (Rangoon)

Following is the long list of murdered victims from the ABSDF Northern Army in 1992. I have to warn the readers that the details of how they were tortured and killed by their own comrades are violently graphic. That first batch of murders began on February 12 and lasted seven full days till February 19.

(One could easily imagine with absolute horror what ABSDF troops had done to the innocent civilians and captured military personnel. United States even had once classified ABSDF as a terrorist organization at the same time accepting into the US many ABSDF men, some of them rapists and torturers and murderers, as political asylums.)

Even though they were young students both Than Gyaung and Myo Win, especially the RIT student Myo Win from Moe-nhyin, by then were already notorious as the blood-thirsty serial head-choppers back in their home cities of mainland Burma during the prolonged lawless period of 1988 Uprising. And they were thirsty for serious blood and they found their victims in their own comrades from the rival student group led by Htun Aung Kyaw.

And in late 1991 they found the excuse for their coming atrocities. At their Lisen camp Than Gyaung had arrested and tortured a young student Soe Myint Aung after accusing him of contacting a nearby army camp in Lwejel. Under a prolonged period of brutal torture Soe Myint Aung finally and falsely confessed himself as a government spy and wrote a list of other spies so that the unbearable torture would stop and he would be eventually killed and released from his horrible sufferings.

The list unbelievably contained nearly one hundred names. All from Chairman Htun Aung Kyaw’s group and the Chairman himself. All of them were disarmed and arrested in early February 1992 by the group led by Aung Naing and his lieutenants Than Gyaung and Myo Win.

The torture, rapes, and murders went on for more than two months in early 1992 till none left alive in their makeshift jail cells.

In 1992 the ABSDF Northern Army was controlled by the ABSDF Northern Commission. Chairman of the Commission was Htun Aung Kyaw, the General Secretary was Aung Naing, and the military Commissar was Than Gyaung and his deputy was Myo Win.

That ABSDF Northern Army was basically living on a borrowed time as they were essentially surviving on the largesse of KIA (Kachin Independence Army) in the Kachin land by the Chinese border.

By the April of that year there were serious conflicts between two rival student groups forming the ABSDF Northern Army. Serious monies from the jade concessions from KIA and from foreign sympathizers were rolling in and the previously-unthinkable riches had caused frictions between the two main groupings.

One controlled by the Chairman Htun Aung Kyaw and the rival one controlled by the General Secretary Aung Naing and his henchmen Than Gyaung and Myo Win.

Like many failed uprisings against the seemingly never-ending military rule in Burma the 1988 Uprising popularly known as 8-8-88 Uprising left many tens of thousands of paranoid student revolutionaries in its wake.

In my time as an excited student rebel during 1974 U Thant Uprising was not that different from the later student-led uprisings in Burma. We students fled our homes and took refuge in the rural towns and villages till the whole thing died down and the peoples’ lives back in the cities were back to normal and the universities were reopened. And we all came back homes to go back to schools and universities.

But the aftermath of 1988 Uprising was starkly different as those rebelling students didn’t just flee from the chasing MIS (Military Intelligence Services) agents. They ran so fast and so far deep into the jungle that they ended up on the Eastern border line and met up with a variety of ethnic insurgents then active on the border like KNU, CPB, KIA, and other clandestine groups.

The student army now well-known as the ABSDF (All Burma Students’ Democratic Front) was the result of those chaotic events in 1988. Those fleeing student-boys and also student-girls some of them as young as 12 ended up as the armed-soldiers in that rag-tagged student army controlled mainly by the KNU and KIA on the border.

And their anarchic course of actions finally resembled the well-known story of Williams Golding’s Lord of The Flies where the stranded boys went wild and started torturing and killing each other on a remote island.

This is a brutally archetypical Lord of The Flies story of ABSDF Northern Army in the Kachin Highland of Burma in 1992.

ABSDF inside by Saya Nay Win Aung part 8

2012-10-12T07:11:00.001-07:00

ABSDF inside by Saya Nay Win Aung part 7

2012-10-12T07:10:00.001-07:00

ABSDF inside by Saya Nay Win Aung part 6

2012-10-12T07:07:00.001-07:00

ABSDF inside by Saya Nay Win Aung part 5

2012-10-12T07:06:00.001-07:00

ABSDF inside by Saya Nay Win Aung part 4

2012-10-10T08:23:00.001-07:00

Another Face of ABSDF

2012-09-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

In late 1972 or early 1973 when I was a 16 year-old boy soldier in a rifle battalion of Burmese Army Northern Command in Myitkyinar I had a rather unsettling encounter with a MIS captain.

It was the last few days of our boot camp and he, as the commanding-captain of MIS (Military Intelligence Service) unit attached to our battalion, was teaching us the one-day-course appropriately titled “Information Retrieval from Captured Enemies” or Torture 101 as a couple of college students among us later re-named it.

The MIS Captain was teaching us how to force the information out of a captured or wounded enemy combatant by a systematic torture. That day all 60 of us the green-grunts were sitting cross-legged on the hard ground in a wide semi-circle around him standing in front of his little office-shed near the battalion armoury and stockade.

Strangely, he had a piercing pair of cold black eyes which were so expressionless unlike normal people as if they didn’t have a human soul behind them. Only much later in the jungle I discovered the wild animals like brown bears have same sort of eyes, the killer's eyes.

“The most effective way is to chop one or both ears off, if the prisoner still refuses to tell you where his camp is or his gun cache is hidden. Of course, only after giving him a thorough beating and if he is still stubborn,” the hard-looking MIS Captain simply told us as if he was just teaching us how to strip a G3 rifle.

“But, you can’t just jump him and chop the ears off. There’s a psychological angle in it,” continued he. “You have to plant a dreadful fear in him. You first have to tell him calmly that you are to cut his dick off. Only after that you pull one of his ears out and slowly cut it off.”

He paused a while for a maximum affect on us and then went on with his lecture. “I emphasize the word ‘slowly’ in the cutting. So that he would receive the worst pain of his life. A blunt knife is even better.”

“My point is once you shock him by chopping his ears off and make him believe that you’re goona chop his dick off too, he will sing all his secrets away to you. What you have to do is put your knife or bayonet to his dick. He will tell you everything you wanna know. The technique worked every time I used it. I never had to cut nobody’s dick once I chopped his ears off!”

One has to be unbelievably cruel and really inhuman to become a torturer. Many Burmese soldiers I met and served together were definitely killers but most of them are not murderers and they universally hated the torturers among them. The Burmese soldiers hate the MIS men, period. The MIS men basically were animals as that’s what they had been trained and indoctrinated to become. Like Hitler’s Nazi SS Storm Troopers.

Though I tried my best to avoid any MIS man when I was running a Seafood Importing business between Sydney and Rangoon back in Mid 1990s, I was forced into shady business dealings by a powerful MIS Colonel in Rangoon. He was a known gun runner and notorious drug trafficker. He tried and almost killed me when I simply refused to cooperate. And he basically banned me from Burma for life. He has the same soul-less animal eyes as the MIS Captain I met before in 1973.

I think I immediately know a Burmese MIS man when I see one.

Recently I’ve been doing long hours of research and writing about 1992 ABSDF Northern Army’s atrocities in Kachin land. And the young ABSDF men who committed those atrocious and sadistic crimes have frequently kept on reminding me of the cruel MIS men I encountered during the earlier part of my life in Burma.

The similarities were shockingly striking and the evidence keeps on popping out here and there as if the perpetrators of those 1992 crimes could simply be the MIS men or MIS-trained sleepers among the decent and also gullible students, the so-called 88 Generation.

The first evidence is the near-simultaneous events of MIS Khin Nyunt’s release from Jail and the direct peace offer from Aung Min, the Union Railway Minister responsible for the ceasefire negotiations with various armed-insurgents, to the alleged-criminals Dr. Naing Aung and Moe Thee Zun.

Both men were former ABSDF Chairmen and both were being accused as fully or partly responsible for the tortures and rapes and murders of fellow ABSDF students in the border jungles after accusing them as MIS spies.

And Aung Min a graduate of DSA Intake 13 was reportedly once the Deputy Director of MIS well before now-retired Senior General Than Shwe (A pure army man) brutally dismantled the universally-hated MIS and put its head General Khin Nyunt in jail during the 2004 power struggle.

How he became the key member of reformist President Thein Sein’s group of moderates is quite questionable as the reason for Thein Sein’s recent release of Khin Nyunt as one of the political prisoners in Burma.

The second evidence is the sworn-accounts of students detained and tortured by the MIS inside various jails in Burma during February 1992, the same time the animals of ABSDF Northern Army led by the likes of Myo Win a blood-thirsty RIT student were murdering their own innocent comrades.

Former student leader Aung Moe Win, also an RIT student, wrote that during interrogation-cum-torture sessions in the Mandalay Prison the MIS men threatened to call the ABSDF Northern Army men if their student prisoners refused to answer their questions.

And following is the direct translation of Aung Moe Win’s narration of what happened exactly in the Mandalay Prison in February 1992.

“Actually while the ABSDF North killings were happening some of my colleagues from Ba-Ka-Tha (Central Students Union – Upper Burma) had been detained in the Mandalay Prison. Every night the Mandalay MIS men dragged them out of their cells and showed them the photos (of students freshly-killed in the ABSDF’s Pajau camp right on the Chinese border) just to confirm the identities of the deceased.

This is Htun Aung Kyaw, isn’t it? Is this one Soe Win Than’s? Who is this bastard?

My friends had to cry silently later (back in their cells) after seeing the photos of close friends already killed by their own comrades. The photos apparently taken just previous nights were arriving there very soon after every killing; their only logical conclusion was that the MIS men inside ABSDF were directly reporting to MIS in Mandalay, prompt and regular.

If that was the case who were the people sending Mandalay MIS those dreadful photos? One thing so definitely certain is that they were not the ones who had been accused of MIS spies and already been killed for that!”

The third and most direct evidence is the questionable background of ABSDF(N) General Secretary Myo Win a UTC (University Training Corps) Sergeant from RIT (Rangoon Institute of Technology) and the really sadist torturer and blood-thirsty murderer.

The following eye-witness account is from Soe Lynn a former RIT student and also a former classmate and dorm-mate of Myo Win in RIT’s Popa Hall a boys-only-dormitory for junior RIT students. (Coincidentally, I was one of the three hall-tutors in that dormitory during the 1980-81 academic-year when I was a tutor in RIT just after my graduation from the Mechanical Engineering Department.)

“I have to write some unsettling things about Myo Win (ABSDF-N) from the time when we were just young RIT students. Just something I want you all to think about. I and Myo Win got into RIT same year. In our Third Year we were in the same dormitory too (Popa Hall). What I now want to say about had happened in that year.

One day a guest from Rangoon (City) visited Win Maw (Ye-Oo) and stayed for a while there. Same time a watch was stolen (from Myo Win’s room and the suspect was the city man). So Myo Win grabbed him and searched him all over. He couldn’t find the watch. He then came into my room and told me the whole thing and asked us to help him.

At that time in my room with me were my room-mate Kyaw Zwar Myint (Mogoke) and some other Mandalay students. So we followed him to Win Maw’s room to challenge that suspected thief again.

Once he saw us and after hearing some terrifying threats from Ba Thaw (one of the Mandalay students) he the thief (his name was Ne Win Soe if I still remember correctly) admitted and pulled the stolen watch out of his walking-shoe and gave it back to Myo Win. He also arrogantly said to Myo Win that he was so dumb he couldn’t find the hidden watch.

That made Myo Win really angry and we especially Ba Thaw was really concerned about his (Ne Win Soe’s) safety. So Ba Thaw said to him that since you gave our watch back to us you do not worry too much and I would send you up to the bus stop. He then escorted the young man out of the dormitory. Everybody in RIT knew how brutal the students could become whenever a thief was caught.

By then it was dark outside. (Between the main road where the bus stop was and the Popa Hall was a large empty field with the Tha-maing College Canteen right smack in the middle.) Once Ba Thaw and Ne Win Soe reached near the Canteen suddenly appeared from the dark behind the Canteen was Myo Win in his full army uniform from UTC and a mob of RIT students.

They immediately jumped Ne Win Soe and bashed him to death. Ba Thaw was basically pushed out of the way by the mob. We all saw it from a distance and couldn’t do a thing to save that Ne Win Soe.

If you looked back in the newspapers of those days you will find Ne Win Soe’s death notice. That incident was in late 1986 (just over a year before the 8-8-88 Uprising started by an unfortunate incident where young Phone Maw from RIT was killed by a so-called police operation to contain the student riots born out of a tea-shop brawl between some RIT students and the local mob).”

That was a true story as a few independent eye-witnesses have confirmed that case personally. So why wasn't Myo Win arrested and charged for that murder? Myo Win seemed to have apparent impunity even for murder. In Burma only the MIS agents had had that sort of absolute impunity.

What the evidence and the eyewitness accounts above were indicating strongly is that Myo Win and some other so-called student leaders of ABSDF might be the MIS agents placed among the real students as the sleepers.

And as a classic case of double-cross they had blatantly and successfully accused the real student leaders like Htun Aung Kyaw and other genuine students as the MIS agents and tortured the false confessions out of them and finally murdered them all.

The scariest thing is if ABSDF North really has been infiltrated and controlled by the Khin Nyunt’s MIS from the very beginning how about the ABSDF South or Central with similar cases of MIS accusations and killing spree there?

They Are Terrorize 4

2012-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

The Voice Weekly

According to the situation currently happening in Sittwe – the city of Rakhine state in Western Myanmar, Bengali Rohingyas illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had set up the terrorists plot earlier before the violence and riot broke out.

The local man said, “From what had happened until now, it is very obvious that their deadly violent and destructive actions were well plotted. Yesterday, they tried to destroy the whole village by starting to torch their own houses which could also burn down all other houses nearby in Minwon village. And then, they accused us of destroying their houses. Today, the village is militarily guarded alongside the police. After the noon, they started torching the villages of Danyawaddy, Naazi, Thantawli, Byianphyu, and Makyeemyaing on the advantage of the weak security systems”.

On 11th June 2012, the groups of Bengali-Rohingyas from Naazi and Thantawli villages took the severely destructive actions whereas the groups from Bumay village did on 10th June.
The Bengali-rohingyas from Amberi, Naazi and Bumay villages besieged the city Sittwe where there is less population of Bengali-Rohingyas rioters who had already left their houses. The problem is that the Bengali Rohingyas rioters surround the city and constantly cause the series of destructions in the areas where the security system are not strong enough to stop them. Therefore, the locals are taking up the important roles to protect themselves and also their areas. The coastal areas surrounding the city have the large population of Bengali Rohingyas residents; as the consequence, the local villagers such as the residents in Byanphyu living nearby are in the danger as these areas are not militarily protected, not even by the police. When the rioters started the destructive acting, the civic guards also arrived the scene late.

“There was no riot or problem between Bengali-Rohingyas and the local Rakhineses in the Sittwe city. But the locals were alarmed to take the actions of protecting themselves, their houses and areas followed by the torching of Bengali Rohingyas to the locals’ houses. They continued setting the fire to their houses to make the burning across to all other locals’ houses and they planned to get themselves out of the city and join other rioters while the locals were trying to extinguish the fire, or they are locked in the city. ” told by the Rakhinese.

Rohingya Terrorists setting fire Rakhinese's houses

“They are better than Rakhineses in the marine-related skills. The sea is their only way-out, so now they are planning to reach to the streams and rivers connected to the sea. The city itself is the island alike, situated in the coastal area and surrounded by the river. From the village of Bumay, all other villages with the large populations of Bengali Rohingyas rioters are at the coastal areas which support them to come to the land and escape easily. The rioters are waiting for their people inside the city to get out and join them. That is why they keep burning down the all other places near to the city to distract the locals and security forces.” told by the local Rakhinese.

CJ Myanmar.com

The order to shoot to any rioter is already released, but no shooting at all, only gun-firing into the air to stop their violence. Some says that some rioters were arrested, but can’t say exactly how many of them. There are the additions to the security forces such as BEMP,GE,Ka-Ma-Ya 354, and other two groups, but this also can’t be confirmed. The problem is due to the lack of security forces in the areas, the locals are required to protect themselves with the bamboo sticks and other homemade weapons. These Bengali Rohingyas rioters only retreat from the areas when the forces arrive.” told by the local Rakhinese. They are continuously lasing out in a sudden and intense violence in many areas.
Apparently, all the properties in the districts surrounding to the city were burnt down by the Bengali Rohingyas rioters. Therefore, the Rakhaineses counterattacked them by torching some houses of Bengali Rohingyas in Shwepya district where all the Bengali Rohingyas had already left their houses to join their groups of riot.

Security forces approch the riot area

Not only did the Bengali Rohingyas rioters from the Naazi village burn down all monasteries in the village, but they also destroyed all other monasteries such as Shwebamann, thaungdara, and Yatha Dhamma which are near to the hill of Arkyatkhun. The venerables and monks closely escaped their severe violence. Now the hundreds of these rioters are residing in the monasteries and camping to further attack to other monasteries on the hill. They tried to attack and destroy the left monasteries, but their actions were temporarily prevented by the local people from the villages near to the hill.

The Voice Weekiy

Today afternoon, the Rohingyas rioters of Thantawli and local Rakhineses of Byanphyu had the clash as a result of the rioters’ attempt to destroy the village. 4 Rakhineses men were chopped to death by the Bengali Rohingyas rioters. Among them, 2 corpses were taken by the Bengali Rohingyas, and only returned to the families after the request of the police and security forces to them.

A monk was wounded by Rohingya terrorists(The Voice Weekly)

The local man in Sithwe city expresses what he feels. He said “We do not understand why they commit such a violence and destruction. We are always peaceful to them as long as they are to us. Now both parties are in the lose-lose situation. We can’t do anything like earning a living, but only protecting and guarding ourselves. Both parties are running out of the foods. Now the rescue campaigns are also facing the problems of foods shortage. We do not understand at all, that why they want to create all these problems.”

A man passing through the burnt village

In today morning, 5 of burnt corpses of Bengali Rohingyas were found in the district of Myothugyi near to the coastal area in Sittwe city. From the yesterday clash, there were 4 deaths of Rakhineses and 2 of Bengali Rohingyas.

They Are Terrorize 1

They Are Terrorize 2

They Are Terrorize 3

Hot New

2012-06-11T22:18:00.003-07:00

Two Rohingya Leaders who committed the links with Al-Qaeda arrested
Ygn- June 11

Two Rohingya Leaders suspected for the cases instagation/agitating of riot and group insurgency in Rakhine State were arrested by Security Forces today.
As per the sources from Security Forces, Dr Tun Aung was arrested in a place three miles away from Maung Daw Township with validate proofs at 3:00 PM today. His Daughter who bought the air-ticket seat No. 6 of the Air Kanbawza flight from Sittwe to Yangon, was arrested this morning with firm evidences of links to Al-Qaeda.

Myanmar President Thein Sein's Declaration of Arrakan Emergency in Myanmar.

2012-06-11T00:45:00.001-07:00

BANGKOK — Myanmar on Sunday declared a state of emergency in a western state where at least 17 people have been killed this month in sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims.

The violence poses another obstacle to the government of President Thein Sein as he tries to open up the country after years of isolation imposed by a military junta and steer it toward democracy.

Soldiers and police officers are trying to restore order in villages where clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have left many villagers wounded and 500 homes burned on Friday and Saturday alone. Four people were wounded in clashes on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

President Thein Sein's Original Declaration of Arrakan Emergency in Myanmar.

Mr. Thein Sein, a former general, announced the state of emergency on national television on Sunday evening. It was unclear what the practical consequences of emergency rule would be; the military and the police in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, already wield significant power despite the country’s move toward democracy.

Mr. Thein Sein has made national reconciliation between the Burmese majority and the country’s vast patchwork of ethnic group a priority of his presidency.

Thein Sein Addressing the Nation on the Arrakan Emergency.

But the tensions near the border with Bangladesh fall outside the scope of reconciliation efforts because they involve people from a Muslim ethnic group, the Rohingya, whose members the government does not recognize as citizens.

Tensions in the area had been building for several months, according to Chris Lewa, an expert on the Rohingya who has championed their cause.

Myanmar’s government has not proposed a solution for the 800,000 Rohingya, who live in conditions that resemble refugee camps and make up one of the largest groups of stateless people in Asia.

There are fears inside Myanmar that the clashes could widen into a broader religious conflict. In recent days, Buddhist and Muslim groups have held relatively small separate protests in Myanmar’s main city, Yangon.

Troops Facing the Bengali Muslim Rioters in Maungdaw.

In one sign that passions are running high, the Web site of Eleven Media Group, publisher of one of the country’s leading weekly newspapers, displayed a string of hateful comments about Muslims from readers.

“Terrorist is terrorist,” wrote one reader who signed in as Maungpho. “Just kill them.”

U Ko Ko Gyi, a former political prisoner who is helping lead efforts to ease religious tensions, said he was concerned by the “emotional response” to the clashes. “We have to calm down and find an intellectual solution to the problem,” he said.

Muslims leaders have urged calm in recent days, and the National League for Democracy, the party of the Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a statement on Saturday calling on the government to restore order. About 90 percent of Myanmar’s population is Buddhist; Muslims account for about 4 percent.

For now the government appears to be confident that the clashes can be contained.

“It’s not likely that this will spread,” said U Tin Maung Thann, the president of a research organization in Yangon who is helping lead the government’s peace talks with other ethnic groups. “The Muslim community within Burma proper have long experience living with the Buddhist majority.”

In recent weeks Mr. Thein Sein’s government has faced protests in several cities over electricity cutoffs and strikes at factories outside Yangon. The government’s tolerance for these demonstrations has reinforced the idea that the country is moving away from years of military dictatorship, but the protests also underscore the long list of challenges and demands facing Mr. Thein Sein as he tries to carry out his reform program.

The violence in Rakhine State was set off by the rape and murder of a Buddhist last month, according to Ms. Lewa, which prompted a series of “revenge attacks.” On June 3, 10 Muslim men were reportedly dragged from a bus and killed. On Friday, mobs of Muslim men attacked Buddhist villagers, leaving seven people dead, according to Burmese media.

Photographs over the weekend showed villagers in the affected area carrying swords and sharpened bamboo poles.

In this generally impoverished country, the Rohingya, many of whom who have been in Myanmar for several generations, are perhaps the most vulnerable minority, plagued by what one United Nations official has called a “chronic crisis.”

They are not allowed to own land, they suffer frequent food shortages and they are technically restricted from travel outside of Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh. Thousands have fled the country by boat in recent years seeking work in Malaysia and other neighboring countries. There are also hundreds of thousands of Rohingya on the Bangladeshi side of the border.

The Rohingya issue stirs a strong nationalist response even among the most liberal members of Burmese society. Mr. Ko Ko Gyi, who spent 18 years in prison for opposing the previous military government, said that the Rohingya were not one of the country’s accepted nationalities and that the “international community” must find a solution to the problem of their statelessness.

“This a question of national sovereignty,” he said. “Anybody who wants Myanmar citizenship will have to learn one of Myanmar’s national languages and learn about our culture.”

Yakhine (Arrakan) State Map in Burmese.

A survey carried out on the Myanmar side of the border by the United Nations in June 2008 found that more than half of Rohingya were illiterate.

There is no hard-and-fast definition of what constitutes the Rohingya, whose skin is typically darker than the Burmese. Muslims living in the northernmost reaches of Rakhine State are generally called Rohingya regardless of their ancestry. Government officials often refer to them as Bengalis.

BBC (or) The World Biggest Cheatings

2012-06-11T00:22:00.000-07:00

June 8, 2012

Maung Daw, Arakan State, Myanmar

A ridiculous news was broadcast from BBC World news.

They used the title "Burma police fire on protestors". It was totally a false news.

It is only a half true/half false propaganda. Without shame, they used a term " Muslim minority" in Maung Daw at Arakan State.In fact, such Muslims are known as Rohingyas who are illegally migrated Bengalis. Around 98% of local residence in Maung Daw are Rohingyas who passed through border line between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Gradually, original ethnic Rakhines (Arakanese) became minorities in Maung Daw township, their native town.

On social networks like facebook and twitter and official pages of Burmese Exile Medias, main message of almost all news are that Muslims are fought dead;Muslims were oppressed; poor rohingyas. In reality, it is a planned and intentional actions to spread fake news to make Myanmar more vulnerable to foreign pressures.They are twisting true facts to become wrong in such a way that Myanmar Police Forces are firing into the Muslim Protestors just for oppression.

The truth is that Maung Daw was in chaos with the atmosphere filled with terror and violence on local Arakanese (Rakhines) which necessarily claims immediate control of police forces. Otherwise, massacre committed by Bengali Rohigyas will be fully carried out. In such case, biased and money-driven Media, and lobbying organizations made Myanmar to be ashamed of such violence and chaos.

In history, Arakanese (Rakhines), a major ethnic group in Myanmar, served as a human barrier to stop influx of Bengali migrants for several decades. Moreover, other major ethnics like Burmese, Shan, Karen, Kachin, Chin, etc haven't become aware of such social conflicts in that geographically and demographically dangerous area. Due to political instability inside Myanmar, such news can't be headlines in state medias and exile Burmese medias.However, lastly, real things taking place in Arakan state can no longer be hidden.

Most of exile Burmese media may be intentionally failed to broadcast news about violent attacks occurred in Maung Daw. At Maung Daw near Burma-Bangladesh border,thousands of Bengali Rohigyas destroyed houses and properties of local rakhines and burned them down. Temples, schools and local stores were completely destroyed. Homes around Myoma Buddhist Temple were set on fire and consequently every Arakanese (Rakhine) fled to secure places. Many local Arakanese (Rakhines) were brutally murderd by such Bengali including elderly and children. Arakanese (Rakhines) ran way for their survival leaving whatever they have.

The beginning of the whole process

On 28 of May, 2012, Thida Htwe, 26 yrs old, Arakanese lady was raped by three Bengali and murdered. Her neck was cut with a sharp weapon and her vagina was penetrated until it was lacerated completely. Thida Htwe whowas a tailor was murdered on the way back to her native village called Tha Pyay Chaung.This case sparked racial tensions among Rakhines and immigrant Bengali rohingyas. Consequently, many Arakanese marched towards Rambree Police Station on 30th of May, the funeral day of Thida Htwe to protest for justice. Criminals were arrested within 48 hours after Thida Htwe was murdered. They are Htet Htet(23), Rauphi(18) and Luyu (21) and now kept in police custody.However, on 3rd of June, 10 native Muslims were beaten till dead in the rage by local Rakines at Taung Gote township on their return to Yangon. 6 were from Taung Twin Gyi, 2 from Myaung Mya and the other two from Than Dwe township, according to the state medias.

Following such crisis, Muslims in Rangoon rallied at city center near Sule Pagoda to protest against

the case of murdered 10 Muslims and the term Kala referring native Muslims which might be a discriminating term in most Muslims' view, stated in State Medias. Myanmar government responded such demonstrations by giving promises to seek justice and commissioned a special task force to investigate that case.

On the 3rd of June also, U Aung Than Wai, a team leader for shopkeepers in a bazaar near Sittwe was missing temporarily and that was a causative factor for a small conflict in Set Yone Su quarter, Sittwe. U Aung Than Wai was a key figure in presenting problems of marketers in that bazaar particularly for high daily tax on each shop.Actually, the tax collection right was auctioned on 2nd June, 2012 already and Bengali groups won it in that auction. Aung Than Wai was threatened by Bengali gangs for his claims on behalf of other shop owners and so he was hidden at his cousin's house.

Around 7 o'clock on the same date, Daw Aung Than Mya with other 10 ladies reported to Sittwe Police Station about her husband missing after small conflicts between Bengali gangs and Aung Than Wai occured. In the mean time, up to 200 Arakanese (Rakhine) people gathered in front of Sittwe Police Station (1) and the local civil authority chief, U Aung Mya Kyaw, came and promised to look for Aung Than Wai. After that, Aung Than Wai's family went back. But around 11.45 p.m, U Aung Than Wai appeared in front of the waiting Arakanese crowd showing his national identity card and went into police station probably for more security. The crowd started to claim to arrest Bengali gangs. The Arakanese crowd tried to raid police station which was why they were cracked down by police force using guns and gas bombs. 11 rakhines were injured in that case. Up to this stage, it is clear that both sides are responsible for crimes committed in Arakan state and Myanmar government was trying best to control the situation.

8th June, 2012

On Friday, Islamic Bengali worship at central mosque in Maung Daw. Around 1 o'clock, nearly a thousand of Bengali Rohingyas started to create riots in front of Kan Baw Za Bank. They threw stones into "United" guest house and a house. Around 2 p.m. , a market branch was burned including Thazin guest house in front of Thiri Min Galar central hall and 6 local shops were burned down. After that, Baho monastry was set on fire and the fire spread to Bohmu village. In Myo Oo quarter in Maung Daw, two homes were burned and monasteries at Kha Yay Myine village and Nyaung Chaung village were burned as well.

5.15 p.m 8th June 2012

Polices were patrolling and arranging demolished Arakanese(Rakhine) to move towards secure places. At that time, from the building owned by a currency broker Zaw Hein, Bengali rohingyas unexpectedly shot into the civilian crowd and the police were confronted with armed Bengali rioters. Armed rioters at Zaw Hein's building are supposed to be around 10 people. A police officer confirmed that they have already got information about arms collected by terrorists in that township. But connections between armed Bengali rohingyas and such arm collections are not approved yet. It was reported that gun shots has caused causalities but number of injured were not known yet. The injured were sent to Sittwe hospital.

In that evening also, nearly 20 Bengali rioters raided Maung Daw hospital and medical staff have moved to secure places. Two homes in front of that hospital were burned also and people were moved to safe monasteries.

Currently realesed list of causalities are as follows.

(1)Dr Khin Maung Latt, 63, stabbed abdomen

(2)Daw Than Yee (57), incised wound over scalp (reported that expired)

(3)U Kyaw Hla (78), incised wound over scalp

(4)U Thein Zaw (36), incised wounds over extremities

(5)U Hla Maung (65), several stabbed and incised wounds on body (expired)

(6) Four female teachers were murdered. Dead bodies of two were at hospital. (9th June)

In Sittwe,a funeral activity line was interrupted by Bengali from The Chaung village and three vehicles in the line turned back but the rest of two were left behind and unable to contact them. So, security forces and nearly 20 monks went to there and secured. In Sittwe University, attacks occurred between Bengali groups and Arakanese groups. But they are settled by Arakan local government minister.

According to a person from Sittwe,capital of Arakan State, he thought that chaotic condition is likely to lead to religious conflicts rather than racial tensions.

"In the morning, they (Bengali) made meetings inside mosques.Half of the population in Sittwe are Bengali. We feel insecure now", he says.

Four villagers from Min Gan were attacked and treated at Sittwe hospital. Currently, Maung Daw is under military control. Around 200 Bengali surrounded the police station at San Pya village and so police tried to deter them by firing into the air.

Around 30 arakanese villages were burned down and Laung Don police station in Maung Daw district was surrounded by Bengali. A number of children were dead and Wai Thar Li monastery.

was also set on fire. Target areas were within 5 miles from Maund Daw city center. And there was a small battle between Al Qaeda supported Rohingya Solidarity Organization and Myanmar Army in the river. RSO was reportedly said that it has connections with Al Qaeda and their troops were sent to operate in Afghanistan.

For such riots, Ko Ko Gyi, a student leader of 88 generations said that those problems can be partly due to exile forces and lobbying organizations working in some western countries. He says

" We want to say that some countries without knowing true history but trying to intervene in rohingya issues might be viewed as a threat to national sovereignty. Rohingyas has no tie with any of our ethnic groups genetically, culturally or linguistically. Because of local political tensions, successive governments have agreed to accept them according to requests frominternational organizations. This is just the sole aid from human right perspective" Ko Ko Gyi says.

"Clearly, this isn't a conflict between Buddhists and Islamist. And I believe that such problems might not be free from foreign proxies" Ko Ko Gyi says.U Khin Yee, Minister of Immigration, confirmed that Rohingya is not an ethnic group of Myanmar.

Ko Ko Gyi(Student Leader of 88 generation)

9th June 2012

Maund Daw is under carfew and Myanmar troops entered Maung Daw to rescue Arakanese people blocked in some quarters. Bengali crowds rallied at burned Bo Hmu village are now marching towards Maund Daw. Sounds of gun fire are still heard and every one is now alert for security. From some resources, it is reported that majority of Myanmar military troops in Arakan state are now in place at Maung Daw township. They suspect that armed Bengali thugs can have strong connections with Al Qaeda supported Rohingya Solidarity Organizaion, a terrorist organization listed by the US government.

Lastly, we all Myanmar citizens view this problem as

" Foreign Invasion and The Threat to National Security"

They Confess,Rohingya is not Myanmar.

2012-06-11T00:15:00.001-07:00

Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing

Ko Ko Gyi: Unless inevitable, we tried to avoid some issues patiently. Now it is time that we announce our view on Rohingya clearly. Rohingya is not one of the ethnic groups of Myanmar at all. We see that the riot happening currently in Buthedaung and Maungdaw of Arakan State is because of the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh called “Rohingya” and mischievous provocation of some international communities. Therefore, such interfering efforts by some powerful nations on this issue (Rohingya issue), without fully understanding the ethnic groups and other situations of Burma, will be viewed as offending the sovereignty of our nation. Genetically, culturally and linguistically Rohingya is not absolutely related to any ethnicity in Myanmar. In terms of citizenship, I would state separately. As we share the borders with other countries, we have some Chinese and Indian descents. They have been living in our country for generations and citizenship has been granted to them. We do not discriminate based on any race for granting the citizenship even if he is a Bengali. They should be protected in the same way as citizens of Myanmar.But, if we were forcefully pressured to accept Rohigya as one of the ethnic groups (of Burma), we won’t tolerate that. Even in America, to get the citizenship, people are tested on how well they know English language, how much they know about the culture of the country, and how long they have been living in the country, through the interviews. In our country, to get the citizenship, it is needed to know at least an ethnic language well and the person must have lived here for generations and know the cultures of the people to some extent. If we are forced to relax our citizenship rules and process and to deal with them unmindfully, we won’t tolerate it at all. For having good international relationship, we have repeatedly deferred to a lot of requests throughout the successive governments. We considered the case from the humanitarian point of view and accepted (Bengali) as refugees. Since no country wants to take them in, we feel sympathy for those people on the ground of humanity and refugee. Taking advantage of our kindness and deference, if the powerful countries forced us to take responsibility for this issue, we will never accept it. Concerning with the sovereignty, if we are forced to yield by any country, we, the army and democratic force will deal the issue together as a national issue.

Ko Mya Aye

Ko Mya Aye:I got out of prison. Even before I got out of prison, Rohingya issue has become a hot issue. It has become not only a hot issue in international political community, but also a crow-pleasing issue that can generate fund. Most of the Rohingya belong to Islam faith. Well, almost all of them. In order to become one of the ethnic groups, I think they tried to bond with Myanmar Muslims and have been pushing this issue to become a religious issue. That’s what Ko Ko Gyi implied by “provocation from abroad”. This has been happening for decades.

Ko Ko Gyi:Therefore, Rohingya issue is not a Muslim (religious) issue. We need to be clear on that. I see that the fact that Rohingya people working with Myanmar Muslims is very suspicious.

Ko Mya Aye:We have repeatedly expressed 8888 Generation Students view since the incident occurred. Yesterday, we have contacted the authorities and shared what we have heard with them. To be honest, we have told them to have all the tight security measures in place. Now we heard of this news (terrorist act against the ethnic Rakhine people). It is not totally, totally, acceptable. I strongly, strongly denounce the fact that houses belonging to the ethnic Rakhine people were burnt down. First of all, I request that the government take responsibility of the security of the ethnic Rakhine people whose houses have been burnt down. Please find out who commit such anarchic acts that create more hatred among people and that would push the country into turmoil and punish those culprits. Especially, Maungdaw shares the border with the neighboring country (Bangladesh). Because of that the ethnic Rakhine are the minority there. In a civilized society, the majority does not bully the minority. It only occurs in an uncivilized society. Therefore, it has nothing to do with race or religion. On behalf of 8888 Generation Students, I demand to charge and punish those ruthless perpetrators effectively and strongly no matter which race they belong to and no matter which God they worship.

Min Ko Naing:It is the most important to prevent the incitement that would cause riots and bloodshed among citizens. Therefore, I don’t want anyone to name the current events as riots between Muslims and Buddhists. Especially, it is very important for the media to control the current situation. On internet and Facebook, we find comments based on emotion and cheering by the people who have no profile picture. We all must control things wisely. Because at one place, Buddhists would probably be a majority but at another place, there are many Buddhists who lives among Muslims. Therefore, the more powerful people should not harm the less powerful people anyhow. Not even saying things like threatening. It is time to protect each other. It is time to protect the minority by the majority. If they not only protect each other and if they not only threaten each other, if they even take lives and destroy the public property, do not save any face. We must protect all altogether. The authorities would also have to take necessary measures. We have already started our efforts to protect at nearby places. I would like to urge the people to protect each other purposely in a collective and united way.

They Are Terrorize 1

2012-06-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

photo-Hmuu Zaw

www.arakanlaywaddy.com

A scene being set fire at Tha Zin Guest House near Maungtaw City Hall at about 2 pm on 8 June.

Eleven Media Group

A scene being set fire near the junction of Clock Tower of Maungtaw City Hall at about 2 pm on 8 June

Yangon, Sat June 9, 2012

(Eleven Media Group)- Dozens of Rakhine people were killed amidst the Rohingya terrorist attacks in border town of Maungdaw in Rakhine State, the western part of Myanmar on Friday.

Due to the violence, hundreds of houses and buildings were burnt down by mobs, said the reporter Ko Win Maung of the Eleven Media at the scene.

The death toll in the incident has reached 20 to 30 until the night of 8 June and the injured persons nearby villages of Maundaw Township have been taken to Maungdaw hospital.

The onset of the violence on 8 June was that the Rohingya Muslims who returned from the mosque yesterday afternoon started throwing the stones to the Rakhine houses and buildings in Maungdaw Township, according to the Eleven Media reporter whose house was also blazed amidst the violence.

As the riots could not be controlled, the police forces took security measures in the town where Muslims are majority and Rakhine people are minority. Rohingya mobs were setting fire on the nearby villages of Rakhine ethnics, said a Buddhist monk who resides in Maungdaw Township.

Muslim Rohingya mobs are setting fire on the nearby villages of Rakhine ethnics(www.arakanlaywaddy.com)

Muslim Rohingya mobs are setting fire on the nearby villages of Rakhine ethnics(Eleven Media Group)

Due to these unrests, the State-owned media aired the announcement of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Curfew) which states people are not to go outside between 18:00 pm and 06:00 am in Maungdaw and Buthedaung townships.

In contrary to the reporting of foreign media, the army did not fire at the mobs, but just warning shots to the riot to help the security measures of police forces, according to the EMG reporter in Maundaw Township where the clashes are happening.

Highly prominent journalist Dr. Than Htut Aung, Chairman and CEO of the Eleven Media Group said, “Up to now, the handling of army in this violence is smooth and flexible. It was reportedly known that the military fired only the warning shots. Although the case seemed to be the problem between the Muslims and the Buddhists, there may be some incitements behind the incident.”

As the Rohingya mobs are approaching to enter the town and nearby villages, the security forces are taking places there and conducting warning fires to them.

Muslim Rohingya mobs were setting fire on the nearby villages of Rakhine ethnics(Eleven Media Group)

Muslim Rohingya mobs are setting fire on the nearby villages of Rakhine ethnics(Eleven Media Group)

“The situations in Maungdaw Township are very serious. The problem should be solved by legal procedures. We do not accept anarchic actions. Security forces concerned should settle the problem systematically. We must control the situation not to spread. If the problem becomes bigger, it is possible to result in series of cases. I warned the possibility of problems in Maungdaw after the case of Sittway. These attacks would seriously threaten to Arakanese people not only in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, but also in some areas with minority of them. The government has responsibilities to calm down the worries of these people. In the future, the security of border area in Rakhine State should be taken by Rakhine people, and that of Shan State by Shan people. Paramilitary forces should be organized to safeguard the security of respective areas. The government should allow more security plans. We will also submit these plans to the parliament. If this incident is similar to massacre of 1942 which was intentionally plotted, the persons behind the curtain are responsible for the consequences. Security persons, international figures and religious leaders should not neglect the case. They should cooperate in solving this problem,” said Chairman Dr. Aye Maung of the Rakhine Ethnics Development Party.

sources;

http://news-eleven.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14013:-the-nation-asian-news-network-eleven-media-group-&catid=42:2009-11-10-07-36-59&Itemid=112
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They Are Terrorize 2

2012-06-10T08:24:00.001-07:00

On 8 June 2012, a tragedy struck the Arankan State of Myanmar. The native Arankanese civilians were severely attacked by Rohingya terrorists, who are the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. It was a well-organized attacked by a Muslim insurgent group called Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO). RSO was formed in 1982 by the remaining Mujahideens who were defeated by the Burmese Army in 1978's Dragon King Operations.

Over the past decade, RSO has developed connections with similar Muslim extremist organizations in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their aim is to create an autonomous state on Arakan land uniting the existing illegal Rohingya immigrants in Arankan State and Rohingyas from Bangladesh. Over the years, RSO gains their finances through criminal activities such as smuggling of guns and drugs between Bangladesh and Arakan State. They also receive massive funds from charities from Islamic organizations from middle east nations.

During 1990s, with the help of an extreme Sunni Muslim Organization HuJI, RSO managed to connect to Al Qaeda. Soon, thousands of RSO members were sent to Libya to attend terrorist training courses arranged by Al Qaeda. They even served in Al Qaeda army as porters and mine clearance specialists.

In 2001, the authorities from the United States seized several videotapes and records from an Al Qaeda base in Afghanistan. One of the records showed that the RSO of Burma is listed as the followers of Al Qaeda. A tape which showed a group of RSO participating in the Al Qaeda's operations was found as well. According to their findings, the US academic claimed that the largest Al Qaeda cell in South-East Asia is supposed to somewhere near Myanmar-Bangladesh border. They also expected that the number of RSO terrorists would grow.

With strong funding from Arab nations, Rohingya advocates have successfully bribed exile medias of Myanmar and have them fabricated pathetic tales about how the Myanmar Government violated human rights on Rohingyas. Evidently, photographs of Han Yaung Wai, the Chairman of Democratic Voice of Burma, were released. In the photographs, he was seen signing a suspiciously Rohingya-promotion-agreement with some Arabs.

Due to the massive population growth of Bangladesh, it is obvious that the Rohingya aka the Bengali of Bangladesh native have been eyeing the neighboring Arankan land. Over the years, with the help of corrupted immigration officers, they have managed to infiltrate into the Arankan State. It was once reported locally that an average of 800 Rohingyas are sneaking into the country a day. These illegal immigrants bring more harm than benefits to the country by committing gang rapes, smuggling of firearms and drugs, conducting racial attacks especially on the Arankan land. However, due to the weak channelling of local medias, none of the incidents nor the crimes committed by them were made known to the international entities. The truth about Rohingyas which very few people know is that Rohingyas are not just stateless refugees. They are terrorists who try to invade the Arankan State of Myanmar.
They Are Terrorize 1
They Are Terrorize 3

They Are Terrorize 3

2012-06-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

photo-Hmuu Zaw

Bengali Rohingyas are celebrating after attack on native Arakan people(Moung Daw-86.2012)

several houses of Buddhist were destroyed by Rohingya terrorists.

Eleven Media Group

Several Buddhist's villages were destroyed and set fire by Rohingya terrorists.

photo-Hmuu Zaw

An Arakanese man was beaten by Rohingya terrorists.

photo-Hmuu Zaw

An Araknese man wounded from attacks of invading Rohingya terrorists.

Eleven Media Group

photo-Hmuu Zaw

Bengali Rohingya Youths recording during riot to cheat international media.

Rohingya terrorist group during riot

Eleven Media Group

photo-Hmuu Zaw

Eleven Media Group

Native Arakanese women are preparing to defend theirself.

An Arakanese man was murdered outside the village by Rohingya terrorists.

An elderly Arakanese man was murdered outside the village by Rohingya terrorists.

A headmaster was murdered by Rohingya terrorists who were his pupils.

An Arakanese GTC student was murdered at Sittwe by Rohingya terrorists.

www.arakanlaywaddy.com

An Arakanese woman,Thida Htwe(26 years old) was raped and murdered at Rambree by 3 Rohingya terroists (28.5.2012)

Eleven Media Group

Arakanese Buddhist people at evacuation center after their villages were attacked and fired by Rohingya terrorists.

Eleven Media Group

Rohingyas are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh into Rakhine State and self-claimed as one of Myanmar Ethnics.Now they attack on natives and threatening Myanmar's Governance in the area,they want Rohingya Islamist Territory.Our native ethnic people (Arakanese) have to run for lives from Rohingya Terrorists' attack and insecure now,begin in own land and being threatened by Rohingyas.This is not Religion conflict.This is not Human Right violations.THIS IS TERRORISTS' INVASION TO MYANMAR.
They Are Terrorize 1
They Are Terrorize 2

Go Away Rohingya,Your Are Not Myanmar.Your Are Cheatings.

2012-06-09T08:21:00.001-07:00

Thein Sein scuttles trip to Thailand

2012-06-09T07:29:00.002-07:00

Myanmar President Thein Sein has cancelled a planned trip to Thailand in the wake of Aung San Su Kyi’s wildly enthusiastic reception at the World Economic Forum, including multiple tours of Myanmar refugee communities.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapha said the cancellation might have stemmed from “dissatisfaction” over the contrast in Suu Kyi’s trip and his own scheduled two-day visit.
The contrast in media attention would have been significant, said observers. Suu Kyi’s non-stop press coverage stemmed from the world’s fascination with her and her first trip abroad in 24 years.
Thein Sein, who has cooperated with Suu Kyi in moving Myanmar toward a democratic path, was going to be granted an audience by His Majesty the King and was also scheduled to sign an MoU with the Thai government involving human resources and connectivity issues.
Article source: http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/7243-thein-sein-scuttles-trip-to-thailand.html

cyber-battles raise fears of cyber-blowback

2012-06-09T07:26:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is warning American businesses about an unusually potent computer virus that infected Iran’s oil industry even as suspicions persist that the United States is responsible for secretly creating and unleashing cyberweapons against foreign countries.
The government’s dual roles of alerting U.S. companies about these threats and producing powerful software weapons and eavesdropping tools underscore the risks of an unintended, online boomerang.
Unlike a bullet or missile fired at an enemy, a cyberweapon that spreads across the Internet may circle back accidentally to infect computers it was never supposed to target. It’s one of the unusual challenges facing the programmers who build such weapons, and presidents who must decide when to launch them.
The Homeland Security Department’s warning about the new virus, known as “Flame,” assured U.S. companies that no infections had been discovered so far inside the U.S. It described Flame as an espionage tool that was sophisticated in design, using encryption and other techniques to help break into computers and move through corporate or private networks. The virus can eavesdrop on data traffic, take screenshots and record audio and keystrokes. The department said the origin is a mystery.

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The White House has declined to discuss the virus.
Suspicions heightenedBut suspicions about the U.S. government’s role in the use of cyberweapons were heightened by

a report in Friday’s New York Times
. Based on anonymous sources, it said President Barack Obama secretly had ordered the use of another sophisticated cyberweapon, known as Stuxnet, to attack the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities. The order was an extension of a sabotage program that the Times said began during the Bush administration.
Private security researchers long have suspected that the U.S. and Israeli governments were responsible for Stuxnet. But the newspaper’s detailed description of conversations in the Oval Office among Obama, the vice president and the CIA director about the U.S. government’s responsibility for Stuxnet is the most direct evidence of this to date. U.S. officials rarely discuss the use of cyberweapons outside of classified settings.
Stuxnet is believed to have been released as early as 2009. It was discovered in June 2010 by a Belarusian antivirus researcher analyzing a customer’s infected computer in Iran. It targeted electronic program controllers built by Siemens AG of Germany that were installed in Iran. The U.S. government also circulated warnings to American businesses about Stuxnet after it was detected.
The White House said Friday it would not discuss whether the U.S. was responsible for the Stuxnet attacks on Iran.
“I’m not able to comment on any of the specifics or details,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “That information is classified for a reason, and it is kept secret. It is intended not to be publicized because publicizing it would pose a threat to our national security.”
Uncharted territoryCyberweapons are uncharted territory because the U.S. laws are ambiguous about their use, and questions about their effectiveness and reliability are mostly unresolved. Attackers online can disguise their origins or even impersonate an innocent bystander organization, making it difficult to identify actual targets when responding to attacks.
Viruses and malicious software, known as malware, rely on vulnerabilities in commercial software and hardware products. But it is hard to design a single payload that always will succeed because the target may have fixed a software vulnerability or placed computers behind a firewall.
On the Internet, where being connected is a virtue, an attack intended for one target can spread unexpectedly. Whether a cyberweapon can boomerang depends on its state of the art, according to computer security experts. On that point, there are deep divisions over Flame.
Russian digital security provider Kaspersky Lab, which first identified the virus, said Flame’s complexity and functionality “exceed those of all other cybermenaces known to date.” There is no doubt, the company said, that a government sponsored the research that developed it. Yet Flame’s author remains unknown because there is no information in the code of the virus that would link it to a particular country.
Other experts said it wasn’t as fearsome.
‘No secret sauce’Much of the code used to build the virus is old and available on the Internet, said Becky Bace, chief strategist at the Center for Forensics, Information Technology and Security at the University of South Alabama. Flame could have been developed by a small team of smart people who are motivated and have financial backing, she said, making it just as likely a criminal enterprise or a group working as surrogates could have been responsible.
“Here’s the wake-up call as far as cyber is concerned: You don’t have to be a nation-state to have what it would take to put together a threat of this particular level of sophistication,” said Bace, who spent 12 years at the National Security Agency working on intrusion detection and network security. “There’s no secret sauce here.”
Stuxnet was far more complex.
Still, Stuxnet could not have worked without detailed intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program that was obtained through conventional spycraft, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, a digital security company in Helsinki, Finland. The countries with the motivation and the means to gather that data are the United States and Israel, he said.
“This is at the level of complexity that very few organizations in the world would even attempt,” said Hypponen, who has studied Stuxnet and Flame. “Basically you have to have moles. Most of what they needed to pull this off was most likely collected with what we would characterize as traditional intelligence work.”
Collateral damage?The more intricately designed a cyberweapon is, the less likely it will boomerang. Stuxnet spread well beyond the Iranian computer networks it was intended to hit. But the collateral damage was minimal because the virus was developed to go after very specific targets.
“When some of these super sophisticated things spread, it’s bad but it may not have the same impact because the virus itself is so complex,” said Jacob Olcott, a senior cybersecurity expert at Good Harbor Consulting. “It’s designed to only have its impact when it finds certain conditions.”
Israel is a world leader in cybertechnology and senior Israeli officials did little to deflect suspicion about that country’s involvement in cyberweapons. “Whoever sees the Iranian threat as a significant threat is likely to take various steps, including these, to hobble it,” said Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief and minister of strategic affairs.
A senior defense official involved in Israel’s cyberwarfare program said Friday that, “Israel is investing heavily in units that deal with cyberwarfare both for defense and offense.” He would not elaborate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak with the media.
Isaac Ben-Israel, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on cybersecurity issues, declined Friday to say whether Israel was involved with Stuxnet.
It could take years to know who is responsible, which is what is so unsettling about attacks in cyberspace. “We are very good as an industry at figuring out what a piece of malware does,” said Dave Marcus, director of advanced research and threat intelligence at digital security giant McAfee. “But we are less accurate when it comes to saying what group is responsible for it, or it came from this country or that organization.”
More about the battles in cyberspace:

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan in Washington and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47658329/ns/technology_and_science-security/

Aung San Suu Kyi's trip to Thailand puts the plights of overseas Myanmar...

2012-06-06T07:18:00.001-07:00

DASSK comment on current affairs - 06.06.2012

2012-06-06T07:14:00.001-07:00

Beyond The Myanmar Democray

2012-06-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

Arrakan Boiling with Anti-Islamic Fever?

(This post details the ugly anti-Islamic and anti-Bengali race-riots in Arrakan triggered by a brutal rape and murder of a Myanmar village-girl by three Bengali-Muslim men on May 28.)

Rape and Murder Victim Thida Htwe

Following news released on the June 5^th New Light of Myanmar newspaper details the brutal rape and murder and sexual-mutilation of a Myanmar village woman by three Bengali-Muslim men in the Ramree Township of the Arrakan State.

"NAY PYI TAW, 4 June- On her way from tailoring work to home, Ma Thida Htwe, 27, daughter of U Hla Tin, of Thabyechaung Village, Kyauknimaw Village-tract, Yanbye Township, was stabbed to dead by unidentified people at the mangrove near a rain tree beside the embankment road leading to Kyaukhtayan Ward of Kyauknimaw Village and Chaungwa Village at 5.15 pm on 28 May.

A complaint over the case was lodged to Kyauknimaw Police Station by U Win Maung, a brother of the victim. The police station opened the case under Section 302/382 (murder/robery) of Criminal Procedure Law. The head of Kyaukpyu District MPF and party went to Kyauknimaw Village on 29 May morning and reconstructed the related clues and interrogated three suspects, namely, Htet Htet (a) Rawshi, son of U Kyaw Thaung (Bengali/Islam), of Kyauknimaw (south ward), Rawphi, son of Sweyuktamauk (Bengali/Islam) of Kyauknimaw (Thaya ward) and Khochi, son of Akwechay (Bengali/ Islam), of Kyauknimaw (Thaya ward).

The investigation revealed that Htet Htet (a) Rawshi knew the daily routine of the victim who commuted between Thabyechaung Village and Kyauknimaw Village for tailoring. He, in badly need of money for marrying a girl, plotted to rob her of her valuables she wears. Together with Rawphi and Khochi, Rawshi waited at the rain tree near the scene. Seeing her returning home alone, the three pointed her with a knife and took her to the woods where they raped and stabbed her to dead, taking away five kinds of gold jewellery including MC gold chain.

In order to avoid racial riots and threat of villagers to the suspects, the Township Administrator and the head of the Township MPF were monitoring the situations and sent the three to Kyaukpyu Jail on at 10.15 am on 30 May. At 1.20 pm the same day, about 100 Rakhine nationals of Kyauknimaw arrived at Kyauknimaw Police Station and demanded to return the three to them who were explained by officials concerned that the three had already been sent to Kyaukpyu Jail.

Original News-release in Myanmar.

However, the group, unsatisfied with it, was attempting to enter the police station which in return had to fire five shots to disperse them. At 1.50 pm the same day, about 100 Rakhine nationals of Kyauknimaw Village left for Yanbye and the Kyaukpyu District Deputy Commissioner and the head of Kyaukpyu Police Station also went to Yanbye to prevent disturbance and ensure prevalence of law and order settling the problems with the villagers.

At 4 pm on 30 May, the District/Township level departmental officials and Yanbye Township Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Ba Kyi made clarifications to avoid disturbance at Yanbye Township Administrator Office, and the villagers left the office at 5.40 pm. At 9 am on 31 May, they left Yanbye for Kyauknimaw Village with two boats. The Villagers accepted K 1 million donated for the village and K 600,000 for the victim’s funeral by the State Transportation Minister U Kyaw Khin and five sets of robes and K 100,000 by the State Hluttaw representative U Than Naing for the victim’s funeral.

At 3.5 pm on 31 May, the State Security and Border Affairs Minister, the deputy head of the State Police Station, the Kyaukphyu District Deputy Commissioner and the head of the District Police Station participated in the victim’s funeral and held discussions with the villagers. At 9 am on 1 June, the State Chief Minister and party left for Kyaukpyu and held discussions with the Kyaukpyu Township youth organization over the murder case. The discussions mainly touched upon handing down deterrent punishment on the murderers soonest and helping prevent riots when they are being brought to trial."

The news-release was clearly sanitized as the horrific details of the crime committed were not included. According to the police forensic evidence and also the eyewitnesses to the body of 25 year old Thida Htwe the victim was raped multiple times by three Bengali men and her throat slashed from ear to ear and her chest stabbed multiple times and her woman organ was stabbed and mutilated with knives.

Following day more than a thousand strong angry mob of native Arrakanese from the surrounding villages surrounded and almost destroyed the Kyauknimaw Village police station where the three criminals were temporarily held before sending them to safer Kyaukphyu Jail just before the mob’s arrival.

Killing of Traveling Bengali Muslims in Taung-goke

That case of brutal rape and murder has basically caused religious and racial riots against the Bengali Muslims all over the Arrakan State and the worst case was the killing of ten Bengali-Muslim pilgrims travelling on a luxury bus at Taunggup on their way from Sandoway to Yangon on June 3^rd.

Following news released on the June 5^th New Light of Myanmar newspaper details the killing of ten Bengali Muslim men by the Arrakanese mob at the Taunggup Town in the Arrakan State.

"NAY PYI TAW, 4 June- In relation to the case of Ma Thida Htwe who was ruthlessly assaulted on 28 May, a group namely Wunthanu Rakkhita Association, Taunggup, handed out leaflets around 6 am yesterday to locals at crowded places in Taunggup, bearing a photo Ma Thida Htwe and describing a “Notice” making the people in Taunggup to take notice the intentionally assault of Muslims to Rakhinese women.

Around 4 pm yesterday, the news that Muslims were on board a car spread to the town and local people crowded the bus from the Yoma Thitsar Bus-line enroute from Thandwe to Yangon while it stopped in Ayeyeiknyein Bus Terminal as passengers embarked and disembarked.

An official of the terminal ordered the bus to leave for Yangon immediately as the bus was crowded. Some people riding motorbikes followed the bus and made the bus to turn back to the town. When the bus arrived at the junction of Thandwe- Taunggup on its way back to Thandwe, around 300 local people who were waiting there besiged the bus and pulled the Muslims out of the bus. In the clash, ten Muslims were killed and the bus were also destroyed. The crowd dispersed around 6.50 pm after Taunggup Township Administrative Board, Myanmar Police Force and Hluttaw Representative, members of War Veterans Organization and townselders arrived at the scene and controlled the situation.

The victims were on their way back to homes after staying in Thandwe for religious purposes. The victims include six from Taungdwingyi, two from Myaungmya and two from Thandwe. The bodies of the victims were buried in the Muslims Cemetery in Thandwe today. The attack is under investigation in conformity with the law and officials concerned and townselders are working together to maintain prevalence of community peace and stability.-MNA"

Original News-release in Myanmar.

Following story and photos of that ugly incident were published on a Myanmar language web site Khithit Blog on 5 June 2012.

(Photos are graphic and weak-hearted should not continue reading the rest.)

The luxury bus (7kha-7863) from Yoma-thitsar coach line was driven by Naung Naung (a Bengali-muslim) and left Sandoway at noon on 3 June 2012 and reached Taunggup at 5 in the evening.

On the bus were 5 Arrakanese and 7 Burmese and 10 Bengali-Muslims. While the bus was stopping for a short break at the bus-terminal in Taunggup the passengers got off and sat in the teashop there.

The ten Bengali-Muslims were noticed by the local Arrakanese youths who had been watching the buses for the purpose of stopping illegal entry of Bengalis from Bangaladesh across the porous border.

Those youths followed the bus by motorcycles once the bus had resumed its journey towards Rangoon. They stopped the bus at the Nayla-Thitsar Gate just outside Taunggup and forced the driver to return to Taunggup police station for the suspicion of transporting the illegal Bengalis.

But well before the Taunggup Police Station the hundreds strong Arrakanese mob waiting at the Sandoway Intersection in front of the No-1 Sate High School stopped the bus and forced all passengers and the driver to disembark.

The mob let the Arrakanese and Myanmar passengers go but forced the Indian looking Bengali-Muslims into the road-side ditch and killed them by bashing them up repeatedly on their throats and heads with Bamboo sticks and timber truncheons.

The killed were:

1. Tay Zar Myint (30) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

2. Aung Myint (40) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

3. Maung Ni (47) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

4. Ni Pwe (56) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

5. Aye Lwin (50) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

6. Tin Maung Swe (53) from Taung Dwin Gyi Town of Magwe Division.

7. Zaw Nyi Nyi Htut (36) from Myaung Mya Town of Irrawaddy Division.

8. Aung Ko Ko Kyaw (27) from Myaung Mya Town of Irrawaddy Division.

9. Driver Naung Naung (30) from Sandoway Town of Arrakan State.

10. Conductor Nyi Nyi Htun (25) from Sandoway Town of Arrakan State.

The news-report emphasized that none of the killed had their Bengali Muslim names mentioned in their NRC (National Registration Cards) but they all were clearly Bengali Muslims. The killings obviously were a racial attack against the Indian-looking Bengali Muslims.

The bus owned by another Bengali Muslim named Battery Kyaw Kyaw from Sandoway was also totally destroyed and burnt down by the Arrakanese mob as well.

The ugly face behind ‘open’ Myanmar’s charm offensive

2012-06-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

The ugly face behind ‘open’ Myanmar’s charm offensive

Moon Nay Li is adamant that despite all the talk of reforms there’s still no rule of law to protect civilians in Myanmar. To prove her point she spreads a layer of detailed humanitarian reports, grisly photographs of dead children and single page testimonies that document the injuries, rapes, sexual abuse and tortures inflicted by the Myanmar army on civilians in Kachin State in recent months.

BY ANY OTHER NAME: Myanmar’s remaining political prisoners have been branded ‘criminals’ by the government.

Moon Nay Li is the coordinator of the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand and explains that as a mother of a three year old she is shocked by what is happening in Kachin State.

“These families have been badly damaged, their futures destroyed. These people are farmers, they’re civilians not soldiers, they don’t deserve to have their lives shattered like this.”

Moon Nay Li shuffles the papers, shakes her head and in a whispered voice says: “The army can rape women, kill children and the country’s courts do nothing. It’s crystal clear the military is all powerful, the courts are weak and the judges afraid of the military.”

Moon Nay Li is referring to the abduction and disappearance of a Kachin woman, Sumlut Roi Ja, in October of last year. A court hearing was held in the country’s capital, Nay Pyi Taw, in February, but after hearing the testimony of two Myanmar army officers the court dismissed the case.

Moon Nay Li outlines the details of the case. While working on their farm last October, three Myanmar army soldiers arrested Sumlut Roi Ja, her husband, Dau Lum and her father-in-law at gunpoint. Dau Lum and his father managed to escape, but Sumlut Roi Ja was taken to the Mu Bum army outpost.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also documented the case in its report, Untold Miseries, published in March. The report noted that villagers witnessed over a number of days “what they believed to be Sumlut Roi Ja at a mountain top clearing controlled by soldiers”.

The HRW report contains testimony from Kachin civilians that describe, “how Burmese [Myanmar] army soldiers have attacked Kachin villages, razed homes, pillaged properties and forced the displacement of tens of thousands of people”.

Moon Nay Li says Sumlut Roi Ja’s husband and baby daughter still pine for the missing woman.

“Sumlut Roi Ja is missing, there’s no confirmation what has happened to her. It’s hard to imagine the suffering her family goes through everyday and every night.”

Moon Nay Li says the message that can be taken from the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the case against the army is clear.

“It means the military can rape and kill ethnic women with impunity. Since June, 2011, at least 60 women have been raped and sexually abused, 30 of those women were raped and then killed by Myanmar army soldiers.”

STILL FIGHTING: Kachin Women’s Association Thailand coordinator Moon Nay Li.

Last month, the Myanmar army attacked the village of Luk Pi. Most villagers fled, but Moon Nay Li says one woman, Gwa Ma Le, 48, decided to take refuge in the local church.

“The soldiers found her when they took another villager, Yu Ta Gwi, to the church to interrogate and torture him. While being held captive he witnessed the repeated rape of Gwa Ma Le. She was raped, beaten, kicked and starved for three days. When the soldiers left, villagers took the semi-conscious woman and man to hospital.

“Gwa Ma Le has 12 children, the youngest is four. Her family say she is suffering massive mental trauma and is in critical need of ongoing medical help.”

Moon Nay Li details the killing of two young children in early May.

“Three kids were bathing in the Ta Li River when there was a loud explosion. The children ran for safety, but soldiers from Infantry Battalion 76 fired artillery and small arms at them. Two of the three children were shot in the back _ they were only five and seven years old. What kind of army shoots kids?”

Moon Nay Li says the stories of human rights abuses, rapes, killings and displacement are not the narratives the international community and media want to hear about Myanmar at the moment.

“They’d rather look at the surface changes taking place _ ‘an interesting place to travel and you can buy newspapers now’ _ the international community is talking up the reforms and conveniently ignoring the abuses while pushing to take advantage of investment opportunities. Burma has two faces, one for the international community and one for the ethnic people.”

Outside the small house in northern Thailand that serves as the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand office, heavy rain clatters on roofs, signalling the arrival of the region’s monsoon season. Moon Nay Li is worried the heavy rains will bring disease and hardship to the displaced people in Kachin State.

“It’s a war zone, we have more than 70,000 displaced people living in basic shelters. A year ago they were productive farmers and now their living in temporary shelters with barely enough to keep them alive. They badly need support and help.”

In March, in his report to the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s Office, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the special rapporteur for Myanmar, demanded that as a priority the abuses in Kachin State must stop and unrestricted international aid allowed in.

“Of particular concern is the ongoing conflict in Kachin State, where there are continuing reports of violations committed and where the needs of those displaced and affected by the conflict must be addressed as a matter of priority. I reiterate that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners should have regular, independent and predictable access to all in need of humanitarian assistance, independent of ongoing negotiations, without conditions attached, and regardless of whether they are in government-controlled areas.”

Moon Nay Li acknowledges, even with Mr Quintana’s support, it is hard to get international attention focused on the atrocities and the humanitarian crisis in Kachin State while the world is besotted with analysing Aung San Suu Kyi’s every move and holding it up as proof that Myanmar’s authoritarian government is finally embracing democracy.

CRIMINALS, NOT POLITICAL PRISONERS

One man with first-hand experience of the fickleness of the international community is former political prisoner, Bo Kyi.

Less than a year ago Bo Kyi, as secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, was the go-to man for international diplomats, NGOs and journalists seeking background information on the situation inside Myanmar.

“These days the international media and others are mainly interested in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and in rewarding the government. The crimes against humanity in Kachin State, land confiscation, developing laws that protect citizens, stopping human rights abuses and releasing all political prisoners is what’s needed now, but these issues are mostly ignored. If the significance of these issues is not grasped it makes future reconciliation and peace an impossible task.”

Bo Kyi believes the government has used political prisoners as pawns in a charm offensive to lift international sanctions.

”It has worked. Releasing prominent political prisoners gave the government legitimacy in the eyes of foreigners. You can now see foreign politicians falling over themselves to meet and introduce their business communities to Myanmar’s President U Thein Sein.”

ONGOING ABUSES: The KWAT claims this student was killed when a school dormitory in Nam Lin Pa village, Kachin State, was bombed by the Myanmar army in August, 2011.

Bo Kyi points out that the Myanmar government needs to do more to convince its citizens it is serious about protecting human rights and putting the rule of law in place.

”They need to show that human rights abuses will not be tolerated. They should take action against those committing the crimes, if not they are legitimising the abusers. I’m not talking about the past. I’m talking about what’s happening today and tomorrow.”

Bo Kyi insists that government institutions are the worst offenders.

”The military, police and prison authorities are the main abusers of human rights. Judges need to take responsibility and be accountable instead of being used as tools by the government to silence its opposition. Illegal arrests are still be used to silence those who might be thinking about protesting.”

Bo Kyi is adamant the international community has given enough concessions to the government to show it is sincere about its support for Myanmar.

”The government has to give more, the pressure on them to do so has to be maintained but engagement must also be continued. If the government is allowed to weaken the opposition through a lack of rule of law, Burma’s democracy will be the poorer.”

Bo Kyi says recently released political prisoners still face government discrimination.

”They are denied passports, not allowed to continue their university studies and those who were doctors and lawyers are being denied registration. These are basic human rights, this government has imposed sanctions on its own citizens.”

The government has always insisted that there are no political prisoners in Myanmar. When US Senator John McCain visited in June last year The New Light of Myanmar reported that the senator was bluntly told by both the vice-president and the foreign minister that the country had no political prisoners.

”Union Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin said that Myanmar has firmly announced that there are no political prisoners in the country. Those serving their prison terms in Myanmar’s jails are just law breakers.”

Bo Kyi says the government’s position that it only jails those who break the law ”translates as locking up their political opposition”.

Another former political prisoner, Ko Ko Gyi, has experienced first hand the differences between being jailed as a common criminal and being put behind bars because of politics.

”Criminal prisoners get around a third remission. Political prisoners have to serve their full sentence. We don’t get fair treatment. We can’t hire lawyers, we are tried in closed courts, and our families are not allowed to attend our trials or are even told we are been held in captivity.”

Ko Ko Gyi claims it is a deliberate government policy to house political prisoners in remote jails as a way to mentally torture them.

”My family were unable to visit me. I saw them three times in three-and-half years. We had no adequate medical care, no tests, no outside care. If you are seriously ill you have little chance of recovery.”

Ko Ko Gyi is no stranger to dissent or fighting for his rights. He was recently released by the government after serving four and half years of a draconian 65-year jail sentence he received in 2008. In 1991 he was jailed for 20 years and released in 2004. In 2007 he was again arrested for protesting on behalf of political prisoners. His crime? Wearing white clothing similar to that worn by political prisoners and visiting the families of jailed activists.

Ko Ko Gyi acknowledges that his country is undergoing change, and for the better. This interview would have been unthinkable a year ago and would have resulted in harsh reprisals from the authoritarian government.

”This government knows how to work the international community well. There are changes at the top, but not at some of the local authority level. For example, the local authorities in the Dawei area committing human rights abuses and engaging in land confiscation.”

Ko Ko Gyi explains that he recently visited the Dawei area and ran into trouble with the local officials who ordered local residents not to welcome him and the 88 Student Generation.

”I believe the orders were not issued by the high government, but by the local authorities _ people were not allowed to assemble, speak freely or even welcome us publically. Villagers asked us to talk at their villages. We encourage local people to exercise their rights within the law, but the villagers were threatened.”

Ko Ko Gyi says it is important that the remaining 471 political prisoners in jail and the 465 under verification are not sacrificed in the stampede by the international community’s rush to do business in Myanmar.

”We strongly ask the international community not to forget the political prisoners still in jail. If our government wants to show the world there is real change they have to acknowledge there are political prisoners _ there should be no more political prisoners in Burma. In a real democracy political opposition should be able to express strong opinions.”

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners’s (AAPP) report for April documents the case of three air force officers who were jailed for writing an article critical of the Myanmar army. The three officers were convicted under section 33(a) of the Electronic Act and sentenced to 20 years. Their whereabouts remain unknown and they have been denied any family contact.

The AAPP report contains a list of farmers arrested for refusing to accept their land being confiscated and their forced eviction. A farmer in Mandalay Division who argued against his land being confiscated was arrested on April 8, ”police confirmed that he had been arrested because he led some villagers to complain against land confiscations”.

WHERE THERE’S NO PEACE

In April, the Karen National Union signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of Myanmar. Since the signing villagers have reported that travelling in the state has been easier, but the Myanmar army continues to resupply its troops with weapons and ammunition.

The humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers, which delivers aid and medical care to displaced people, report that in April, ”Light Infantry Battalion 593 shot at villagers returning from hunting in Ta Naw Th’ree Township, Mergui/Tavoy District.”

The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reported that in April, the Myanmar army’s Light Infantry Division 44 demanded villagers from the Bilin Township area supply for free ”building materials, including 5,000 bamboo poles and more than 20,000 thatch shingles”.

A KHRG staff member ”witnessed thousands of thatch shingles and bamboo poles stacked along the main road and more than 10 military trucks carrying thatch shingles and bamboo poles in both directions towards Yangon and Mawlamyine. Thatch shingles and bamboo poles are common commercial goods that provide basic building materials for many homes in Burma.”

Last week the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) noted in a press release that Myanmar is experiencing ”rapid political and economic development and change”.

The AIPMC issued the media statement to draw attention to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights drafting of a declaration of human rights for the bloc.

Son Chhay, the vice-president of AIPMC, echoed Moon Nay Li’s concerns when he said: ”Something does not sit right when Asean’s leading human rights proponents are sitting in Yangon writing their human rights declaration, while a few hundred kilometres away in Kachin State, a vicious war is being fought, where people are being raped and killed, and allegations of forced military porters, targeting of civilians and other human rights abuses are rife.”

HRW’s's senior researcher on Myanmar, David Mathieson, explains it is vital the process for implementing a genuine reconciliation process is not lost in the rush for ”change at any price”.

”Justice and accountability is what the people of Burma want, but any peace process must have justice as one of its core elements, otherwise there will be no longstanding peace. All parties to the conflict must respect international humanitarian law and realise abusive behaviour prolongs suffering and war.”

Moon Nay Li says the solution for the people of Kachin State is for the Myanmar army to withdraw.

”If they leave there is no fight. We need a third party to broker a ceasefire agreement. We want peace but the government is after the total control the ethnic areas. It will be a long struggle.”

SOME THINGS DON’T CHANGE: Kachin people are forced to live in overcrowded huts with no privacy in makeshift camps after being displaced by the Myanmar army.

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About the author

Writer: Phil Thornton

Position: Writer

Article source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/296342/the-ugly-face-behind-open-myanmar-charm-offensive

Aung San Suu Kyi press conference in Maesot

2012-06-05T09:07:00.001-07:00

Myanmar ‘has given up nuclear power research’ – minister

2012-06-05T09:05:00.000-07:00

Myanmar ‘has given up nuclear power research’ – minister

2 June 2012
Last updated at 11:35 ET

Delegates said Lt Gen Hla Min’s remarks were remarkably frank

Myanmar(Burma) has abandoned research into nuclear power generation, its defence minister says.

The new government had “already given up all activities on nuclear issues”, Lt Gen Hla Min told the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

In 2010, a defecting Myanmar soldier and mechanical engineer accused his country of starting work on a nuclear-weapons programme.

But Hla Min insisted that the country had never pursued nuclear weapons.

Delegates said his remarks – spoken through a translator – were remarkably frank and an illustration of the reforms sweeping Myanmar, reported Reuters news agency.

Hla Min acknowledged that Myanmar’s previous government had begun “academic studies” on nuclear technology.

But he insisted that “it was not for defence, it was not for weapons”, and said the research had “not progressed much due to our constraints”.

North Korea ties

The new government had given up such activities, he said, and “we have no further plans to extend on this”.

In the past, there have been repeated allegations that Myanmar was being helped in its nuclear research by North Korea – suggestions that re-emerged with the publication of diplomatic cables by Wikileaks in late 2010.

Myanmar had maintained political and military ties with North Korea in the past, Hla Min admitted, but “because of our opening and our new efforts, we have stopped such relationships with North Korea”, Reuters reported.

He said current ties amounted to “just a regular relationship”.

Hla Min dismissed a suggestion from the audience that the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), be allowed to inspect the country.

“We have nothing to check and nothing to see so it is irrelevant,” he said.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18309879

The New York Times covered Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand

2012-06-05T09:00:00.001-07:00

This week, The New York Times covered Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand -- the first foreign trip for Myanmar(Burma)'s opposition leader in 25 years. Many people who have dealt with Suu Kyi and her political entourage over the years say that the Times report, which described a striking lack of organization in the upper ranks of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was spot-on.

Last week, Suu Kyi's staff turned down a request for a meeting from Paul Collier, one of the world's top economists. Their excuse: The Lady was busy. "Perhaps her staffers don't know who Collier is," one source in the opposition told me. "The Myanmar opposition movement has missed the chance to benefit from a great mind." Meanwhile, government newspapers covered have reported that ministers and presidential advisors gave Collier plenty of time.

Prominent experts from the Myanmar exile community, many of them with valuable experience acquired in their years abroad, say that the NLD is ignoring them even while the government is actively soliciting their services. "There is no proper mechanism set up by Suu Kyi for Myanmar researchers to play a contributing role to the opposition movement," says a Myanmar scholar who graduated from a top U.S. university and visited Yangon a few months ago.

The NLD is also having problems with reporters. Lately there have been increasing tensions between the NLD and local journalists. In early May, a member of Suu Kyi's security staff manhandled a local photojournalist who tried to take pictures of the Lady. Local reporters say that the bodyguards abused them, saying: "You media people are doing this for money. We don't make a f---ing penny. We face jail time because we're doing politics."

Many NLD members suffered under the previous regime. But Suu Kyi, who holds to a rigorous moral code, rightly tends to dismiss those who bring this up. She once famously said: "If you choose to do something, then you shouldn't say it's a sacrifice, because nobody forced you to do it." Moreover, since many journalists (and activists-turned-journalists) were also imprisoned by the military regime for their political and professional work, the self-righteousness and arrogance of the NLD members are likely to backfire.

Local reporters have complained in the past few weeks that the NLD no longer issues open invitations to the media to cover important political events, such as Suu Kyi's recent meeting with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Maung Wuntha, a well-respected veteran journalist and a former leading member of the NLD in 1988, told me that the NLD staffers who are close to Suu Kyi need to learn how to work in a more media-friendly manner: "Many of them tend to see journalists as careerists who do not have any principles and commitment to the interests of the country. This perception is a serious problem. Unless they realize that journalists are doing a public service, we aren't going to see any fundamental improvement in relations between politicians and reporters."

Another public criticism of Suu Kyi and her staff has come from an unexpected source: staunch NLD supporters outside of Myanmar. Eight major Myanmar exile organizations -- including such dedicated and well-connected groups such as the Network for Democracy and Development, the Women's League of Myanmar, and the Human Rights Education Institute of Myanmar in Thailand - asked for some face time with Aung San Suu Kyi during her visit in Bangkok, but to no avail. For perhaps the first time since 1988, many prominent exiled activists came together to express their frustration in the Myanmar-language media. "We feel sad," said Khin Ohmar, NDD chairwoman, told The Irrawaddy, a leading Myanmar-language magazine. "We have worked tirelessly for our country since 1988. We can't go home, so while our leader's visiting us here, we all would like to meet her and exchange views and experiences."

You can find signs of frustration not only on the Thai-Myanmar border, but also in the capitals of the United States and Europe. Several lobbyists who relentlessly advocated on behalf of Suu Kyi and her "principle-centered policy" of economic sanctions for decades are now disoriented by the Lady's apparent lack of coordination and inability to delegate. A dedicated Suu Kyi advocate told me he's been trying to get in touch with the NLD's information department for months to arrange a conversation between Suu Kyi and the president of a newly democratizing Asian country, but his correspondence has gone unanswered.

Of course, it's not fair to blame Suu Kyi for all these problems, given that the party's organization is still weak. Most party activists (including herself) have spent long periods in detention - perhaps the most important among many legitimate excuses for the problem. By now, though, it's high time for Aung San Suu Kyi and her party to step back, practice self-criticism, and think aloud about whether they have burned too many bridges too quickly in this transitional phase. Perhaps what Suu Kyi needs is not just an entourage, but a full-blown chief of staff with a proper team that is capable of strategic planning and management and can support her in the decision-making process. Moral courage and clarity are hugely important in politics, but you also need the capacity to cultivate your base and craft sound policies if you really want to get things done.